Kenneth Wise - 2nd Edition

[madgoat]

hikinginthesmokys.com's blog just pointed out that Kenneth Wise is putting out a new edition of his "Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains".

My 1st edition is dog eared, much loved, and much used. I have read it cover to cover, and thoroughly enjoyed the historical details and anecdotes. I will buy this as soon as it comes out.

The 'little brown book' is currently more useful for trip planning, since trails are listed alphabetically and the trail details include an elevation profile. It sounds like the Wise's 2nd edition will also have the trails grouped by watersheds, which is far less useful for quickly referencing trail descriptions.

But the 'little brown book' is a collaborative effort with trail descriptions authored by multiple different people. Thus, the trail descriptions dabble in historical details, but mostly tell you what kind of trees and rock formations are located on the trail. Wise's 1st edition goes into exhaustive historical detail, along with talking about the flora and fauna to be experienced.

Wise's 1st Edition included trail descriptions for upper porters creek, huggins hell, upper ramsey cascades, the catstairs and a few other unmaintained and unmarked manways. If you believe hearsay, the park stores would not sell his book since it included details on these manways. Wise has a couple other books that are sold by the park stores (best short hikes, best overnight hikes). I'm guessing that this revised 2nd edition will exclude the manways and will be sold in the park stores.

I highly recommend taking a look at this when it comes out. My hope is that this book will also come out for kindle... We shall see.

[TNhiker]

If you believe hearsay, the park stores would not sell his book since it included details on these manways

it wasnt hearsay----it was fact.........

mr. wise ending up suing and winning over having the book sold in the park's stores...

and yeah---my copy is pretty dog eared.......wondering what "new" stuff will be in the new addition...

and not sure why the first edition goes for so much on the secondary market.....

[mtntopper]

Is the 1st edition still available? I want to look into the manways.

[HooKooDooKu]

Is the 1st edition still available? I want to look into the manways.

I was thinking the same thing and did a little googling.... if you don't mind used books, it looks like there are some available... but new ones seem to be in the $60 to $120 range (all through 3rd parties, no major online book stores seem to stock the old one anymore).

Taking a 2nd look now that I'm at home... even in used condition the book looks to be selling for $40-$50.

[mtntopper]

Does anyone know if the 2nd edition will include the manways?

[TNhiker]

Does anyone know if the 2nd edition will include the manways?

i would tend to say yes, as probably there's not exactly new information to add to the trails....

in fact, i would almost say that there could be more info on manways as he has had time to research more since the new edition came out.....

but, with that being said----i havent seen a copy of the new edition yet.....

and yeah.....im not sure why the first edition goes for so much money on the secondary market.....

[TNhiker]

but new ones seem to be in the $60 to $120 range (all through 3rd parties, no major online book stores seem to stock the old one anymore).

amazon has new copies of the first edition for around 150 and new copies of the second edition for around 25 bucks....

[HooKooDooKu]

Let me do some rephrasing (and update based on doing some more research on the 1st edition).

It would appear that major book sellers no longer have the 1st edition in stock. The only place to obtain the 1st edition is from 3rd parties, however sights like amazon and ebay is the POS for these 3rd parties.

A 1st edition is very used condition (seemingly called 'good') seems to be selling for about $40 to $50.
A 1st edition is slightly used condition (seemingly called 'very good') seems to be selling for about $60 - $100
A 1st edition in new condition seems to be selling for about $125 to $200.

The 2nd edition is or soon will be available at many major book sources for at or near the cover price of about $25.


I too would like to know if the 2nd edition still has all the man-ways. If so, I'll be soon ordering the 2nd edition. If not, I'd like to know a little bit more to determine if it is worth spending $40+ on a used book written over 10 years ago. In those ten years, the GSMNP has seen several storms and lots of blow-downs. Can't imagine those old man-ways are any easier to traverse now than when the book was 1st written.

[TNhiker]

yeah.....the manways would have seen more damage in the ten years since first edition.......other than for historical information, i wouldnt spend 40 bucks on the old one (but then again---i have one already that i bought when it first came out)...

i just recently sold my spare copy of the first one a few months ago for 30 bucks including shipping and i threw in another outdoorsy book...

i tend to think that the new edition will have the manways in them as i cant really see all that much updating from the first edition....

i hope one of my local bookstores will have it in stock so i can check it out.......im busy this week but maybe ill look for it next week........

[gollwoods]

I have a1st edition still in shrink wrap should have sold it I guess

[HooKooDooKu]

I have a1st edition still in shrink wrap should have sold it I guess

Still can on something like Ebay. Sounds like you might get as much as $150 for it (especially if its still in shrink wrap in perfect condition).

[liteweight]

this is in the description of the 2nd edition on amazon, wondering if that means manways won't be mentioned.

Included here are facts on more than 125 official trails recognized by the Park Service.